I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
John 15:5
I am the vine;…
Christ alone is the vine. He is the source that the branches derive their nutrients from (v.4).
I am the vine; you are the branches...
We are offshoots of his own self. He is even able to graft in the unnatural branches. His life-giving power transcends our own categories of belonging. Those that have laid hold of life in Christ through faith have become one with him by his grace. We haven’t attached ourselves, and we don’t hold ourselves.
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me…
There is an implied dichotomy here: some abide, others don’t. This may challenge our categories of human will because the beginning of the passage says that the Father removes and keeps the branches. God himself has complete authority over our eternal state, yet here we see hints of our own participation. We must be faithful, but that faithfulness is by God’s grace and through the ultimate and complete faithfulness Jesus himself showed toward us. We abide in him, only because he abides in us.
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him,…
There are those that attempt to abide in and of themselves, but ultimately it comes down to whether or not Jesus abides in you. We love him because he first loved us. We hold fast to him because he is holding fast to us.
This also implies a mutuality. One that says, “Those that abide in Christ, Christ will abide in.” And it also says, “Those that Christ abides in, will abide in Christ.” We should press into this mystery. While maintaining his complete sovereignty, Jesus is telling us that in some way that we can’t completely comprehend, our action of abiding — remaining — in him causes him to reciprocate by abiding in us. Our keeping of his commandments proves our abiding (v.10), and it’s this way for our fullness of joy (v.11).
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit,…
Our fruitfulness is a product of our connection to Christ, the True Vine (v.1). The fruit prove that we belong. They prove what’s most true about us: that we are in the vine. The Father takes away the imposters (v.2). Those that do not produce fruit are tossed away and thrown into the fire (v.6). And those that do produce fruit are pruned so that they can bear more fruit (v.2). Our abiding in Christ, through the pain of pruning and refining fire of suffering, will invariably make us more like the true vine himself, and we will bear much fruit for the kingdom in the process.
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
Without our connection to Christ, of ourselves, we can do nothing of eternal significance. We can’t save ourselves. We can’t prune ourselves. We can’t bear fruit in, and of, ourselves. We can’t even keep ourselves attached to the vine. In a passage that seems to hint to our partnership with God in accomplishing things, we’re faced with the truth that it’s only in Christ that we can do anything. God saves, God prunes, God causes the fruit, God keeps us abiding in himself. If it weren’t for God doing these things we would be like the branches that are tossed away. Those branches die because they are not attached to the vine. By God’s grace alone we are kept to yield much fruit, and it is all to the praise of his glorious grace.
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5
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